New Joiners - Landscapes #889

What lovely conditions for landscape photography. The heavy sky and soft, warm light combine to create excellent mood. The elevated perspective of a drone reveals this far reaching view - and the lone wind turbine provides a needed focal point. A well captured landscape.

This is a near miss, unfortunately. The dawn colours are beautiful and I love the pink, pastel tones of this shot. The composition and viewpoint work also. It is slightly overexposed with some highlight detail lost in the sky. But the biggest issue is that the shot isn't sharp. On close inspection, you can see ghosting (caused by the tripod sinking in the sand during exposure). Tripod legs need to be pushed firmly into the sand for stability and image quality should be reviewed regular on location. Unlucky - a lovely shot otherwise.

This is a simple but effective image. The calm conditions has presented the photographer with a great opportunity to capture mirror like reflections and attractive symmetry. The soft, low contrast light suits the scene and the low cloud provides nice mood.

I love the warm side lighting shaping this landscape and adding contrast and depth. The walkway creates a powerful lead-in line and - while I would prefer it not to briefly exit the frame on the right - overall I think this is a well composed shot with lovely layers and interest.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - light is the key ingredient if you wish to capture engaging landscape images. The golden hours - at either end of the day - are the optimum time for landscape photography. In this instance, the light's warmth and quality really elevates the scene. This is a lovely, far-reaching view with strong foreground shapes. Meanwhile, the people provide a focal point.

What a beautiful, calm and inviting lake scene. The crystal clear water reveals every rock and piece of drift wood, creating a busy, but interesting foreground. The low cloud and hint of lens flare (reducing contrast) add to the mood.

Sadly, the bright, out of focus barrier in the foreground completely dominates and spoils this photo. But if the photographer cropped this photo - removing both the top and bottom of the frame - this would be a very lovely shot. The subject and conditions are good, but it's important to edit and tidy-up photographs when required.

The photographer has identified a great foreground subject, with this rusty anchor sitting neatly on the rocky foreshore. This is a nice shot with jagged rocks and water movement adding interest. However, the anchor is very tightly composed - the photographer might have been better to use a wider focal length, or to take a small step back. The horizon is wonky too, although this is easy enough to rectify.

These are beautiful conditions with lovely reflections, mixed light, and interest in the sky. But you need to take your time when taking photos, in order to frame things precisely and select the best viewpoint. This looks like a 'drive-by' shot - had the photographer stopped and taken the time to exclude the foreground distractions and straighten the horizon, this photo would have been so much better.

It's not just the colourful sky that brings appeal to this shot, but the patterns of the foreground waves. The wet, reflective sand and dark, dry sand combine to create contrast and layers that lead the eye toward the skyline.

Even though the light is quite harsh, this is a very photogenic scene. Unfortunately, depth of field is insufficient and the foreground rocks and flowers are out of focus and distracting. A smaller aperture, in the region of f/11 or f/16, would have generated a larger zone of focus. However, in this instance, I would have been tempted to exclude foreground altogether and simply focus on the vista beyond.

This is a well captured shot of a group of cormorants - the backlighting adds interest and drama. However, it is not suited to the landscape theme - it should be entered into a wildlife category instead. Therefore, reluctantly I have to place this photo into the No bucket.

This is a fun shot - well seen, timed, and captured. The fountain and water's motion helps balance the composition, adding interest and making the shot more engaging overall. The composition feels a little tight, though, with very little space between the water and top of the frame. But it is always good to see photographer's being innovative and creative with framing and approach.

This is a sweet photo that has a lovely nostalgic feel to it. The black and white conversion adds to this feeling. Selectively lightning the subject has helped place emphasis on the boy and direct the eye. The viewer then follows the child's gaze in order to explore the rest of image-space.

It is always tricky shooting toward the sun - the level of contrast will often exceed what the camera is capable of recording. Bracketing and blending exposures is often the best solution. Overexposure aside, this is a really nice shot. Lovely atmosphere, great light, and a wintry landscape full of interest.